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Month: August 2017

Chabadinfo.com Exclusive: In the last Sicha the Rebbe said on Shabbos Parshas Ki-Tetze (5751), the Rebbe discusses the idea of the “Holy War” being waged and the connection to Moshiach ● Now you too can understand the Rebbe’s words with ChabadInfo.com’s NEW Weekly Shiur of the “Dvar Malchus” Sicha in English, presented by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Lipskier, Mashpia of Mesivta of Melbourne, Australia ● Watch Video

On this Shabbos, two parshas are read: Ki Seitze (“when you go out to war on your enemy”) in the morning, and in the afternoon the first section of “Ki Savo” (“when you will enter the land to inherit it and to settle it…”). Thus, on one single Shabbos we have two seemingly opposite lessons from the Torah: going to war against an enemy (the avodah of golus), and settling the land (the reward of the Messianic Era).

Since everything is guided by Divine Providence, the Rebbe says we have to learn from this combination: that we can be a situation of doing the avodah of making a war on the enemy in the time of golus and yet at the same time be in a completely “settled” state, which is the reward for this avodah.

How can we accomplish this? Through the knowledge that in essence a Jew is completely above the existence of any opposition, because Hashem “consulted” with the souls of the Jewish people before creating the world, showing that we are in fact one with Hashem and above the world. If so, then why would we agree to the creation of a world that contains “enemies” whom we will have to overcome in war? Simply because Hashem (with our agreement) did not want to give us “bread of shame” (unearned reward), and therefore He created a world for us to earn the reward. In order for His desire for a dwelling place in the lower realms there must be lower realms where there is the possibility of war. But the truth of the matter is: a Jew in his source is, and even enclothed in a physical body in this world he remains higher than the concept of any opposition.

When a Jew is aware that this is the true reality, then even his “going out to war against the enemy” is infused with the aspect of “settling the land” (“the land”, which implies Eretz Yisroel, which “desired to do perform the will of her creator”–where there is no longer a “war” to fulfill Torah and Mitzvos, but rather one overcomes his evil inclination with ease).

The Rebbe adds that:

“the main thing –that the avodah is amidst ease and comfort in the simple sense, ease of the soul and ease of the body, which is achieved through the Holy One, blessed be He, giving to every single Jew all that he needs materially and spiritually, and with abundance.”

This includes all that a Jew needs in order to do the avodah itself, and after that as a reward for the avodah that he performs. And this material (and spiritual) reward is a sampling of the physical reward that will be in the Messianic Era. Not only that, but the Rebbe makes a revolutionary statement, that the verse “then their mouths will be filled with laughter”, which is explained by Chazal and the Chassidic Discourses as referring to the Time to Come, is applicable now–“then” is “now” in the presente tense. The rewards of the Time to Come, the Messianic Age, are available to us now. Although they are “locked in a box”, every Jew can open the box whenever he wants. How? By performing one more mitzvah. As the saying goes “the future is now”, but by the Rebbe this is not merely a slogan, it is the reality!

All this receives greater emphasis since the year the sicha was said was 5751–תנש”א– which is the command that “you will be exalted” (referring to Moshiach):

both as regards the revelation and coming of Moshiach and as regards the wedding of Knesses Yisroel [the source of Jewish souls]and the Holy One, blessed be He in the Messianic Era, and in the words of the [midrash] Yalkut Shimoni: ‘the year Melech HaMoshiach is revealed in him…he stands on the roof of the Beis Hamikdash …and says humble ones, the time of your redemption has arrived’.

The Rebbe adds in the footnote the continuation of this Midrash:

And if you don’t believe, see via my light…at the same time the Holy One, blessed be He, shines the light of Melech Hamoshiach and of Yisroel and they all go to the light of Melech Hamoshiach and of Yisroel, and they [the nations of the world] come and lick the dust from beneath the feet of Melech Hamoshiach…

While explaining this may be a divergence from the main body of the sicha, it is important to note what the Midrash is telling us: that there will come a time following the initial revelation of Moshiach (“Moshiach is revealed in him” means the revelation of the soul of Moshiach in the one who has been anointed by Hashem to be Moshiach, explained here) when nonetheless the Jewish people will not be prepared to believe him when he says that indeed the time of their redemption has arrived. How do they get out of their own lack of confidence in themselves and in the words of Moshiach? The Midrash says “see via my light” (ראו באורי שזרח עליכם), that through Moshiach’s light, meaning wisdom–the Torah that Moshiach teaches–they will be able to see the reality that Moshiach is describing to them.

Through our effort to learn and understand the Torah that Moshiach is revealing to us, we will merit to see the reality that he is describing to us, the reality that “the time of your redemption has arrived”!

Chabadinfo.com Exclusive: In the Sicha of Parshas Shoftim 5751, the Rebbe speaks about the Nevuah that Moshiach is coming now ● Learn this week’s Sicha with ChabadInfo.com’s Weekly Shiur of the “Dvar Malchus” Sicha in English, presented by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Lipskier, Mashpia of Mesivta of Melbourne, Australia ● Watch Video

The sicha of this week, parshas Shoftim, is unquestionably one of the most significant talks the Rebbe ever gave.

The Rebbe opens the sicha by reiterating that since we have already finished all the work that was required of us in the time exile, and we are “all standing ready” to greet Moshiach, we are now already holding at the time of the fulfillment of the prophetic promise “I will return your judges…and your advisers”.

Explaining the difference between them: a judge is higher than the one whom he is judging, and has no need to explain his rulings. He issues a ruling at it must be obeyed. (And if there is resistance to fulfilling the ruling of the judge, there are police forces to execute his judgments). An adviser is on the same level as the one he is advising, and his role is to explain the judge’s ruling in a way that makes sense to the person, so that he can see how it is in his own best interest to fulfill the rulings of the judge, which brings about that he will fulfill them eagerly and willingly, with no need for police enforcement. (In the terminology of Chassidus: one obeys the judge out of bittul and kabbalas ‘ol, in a manner of makif; whereas the adviser enables the person to obey the judge with his own understanding, so that it comes into pnimiyus.)

Since the combination of judges and advisers is part of the prophecy of the Messianic era (as opposed to judges and police, as in the time of exile), we have to start preparing ourselves now by living in this manner already. This makes us into a vessel to receive these revelations, and also speeds them up.

These two dimensions are also reflected in the difference between Torah and Prophecy (Nevuah): Torah is a decree from Above to below, the fulfillment of which does not depend on its reasoning being understood (for it is really Hashem’s reasoning, which truthfully we cannot understand). Prophecy, however, is enclothed in the thought and intellect of the prophet, which means that it is truly unified with human intellect. The Rambam writes that prophecy will return to the Jewish people before the Geulah as a preparation for Moshiach. The Rebbe notes that even the absence of prophecy in the intermediate time is referred to by a term (“nistalka ruach hakodesh miYisroel“) which implies and lack of the ability to receive it, but does not mean that prophecy was nullified. Thus, the Rambam writes about prophecy in his code of Jewish law which is applicable to all times and all places, because in truth prophecy is essentially applicable to all times and all places.

Then the Rebbe makes a dramatic statement:

“Every prophet is a continuation of the prophecy and Torah of Moshe Rabbeinu…and in our generation [this is] the Nosi of our generation, my father-in-law the Rebbe…that through our Rebbeim ‘prophecy will return to Yisroel’, they themselves are the prophets of our generation.”

Also, through the tasting of pnimiyus Hatorah now, the Jewish people and the whole world become a vessel (in an inner way) for the inner revelation of Torah that will come afterwards by Moshiach Tzidkienu. And in our generation the spreading of the wellsprings outward [which is what brings Moshiach, as the Baal Shem Tov writes in his famous letter] to all corners of the world has been fulfilled in its entirety.

The Rebbe then makes another dramatic statement, this time a clear directive for all of us:

“There needs to be an avodah that matches the state of Geulah: to publicize to himself and to all those whom he can reach–that they need to accept upon themselves, and to take upon themselves (more strongly) the directives and advice of “your judges” and “your advisers” who are in our generation–“our Rabbis are our kings” in general, and in particular the Nosi of our generation–who comes in continuation to the Rebbeim who preceded him –the judge of our generation and the adviser of our generation and the prophet of our generation,

“And the Torah commands us to believe in him and to obey him, not only because he can give signs of predicting the future, but because of the Mitzvah that Moshe commanded us in the Torah… And more than this: A prophet upon whom another prophet testifies that he is a prophet–as this regards the Nosi of our generation, and is continued in the generation that follows him through his students, etc.–we assume he is a prophet and do not need to examine him…and the Torah forbids us to doubt him or to ponder if his prophecy might not be true…

“And there is a directive in all of the above, that it must be publicized to all the people of the generation, that we have merited that the Holy One, blessed be He, selected and appointed an individual with free will, that he himself is immeasurably higher than the people of the generation, that he will be ‘your judges’ and ‘your advisers’ and the prophet of the generation, who will give guidance and advice regarding the service of the entire Jewish people and all the people of this generation, in all matters of Torah and Mitzvos, and as regards general daily life…until — the main prophecy — the prophecy* of ‘immediately to tshuva, immediately to Geulah’, and immediately ‘behold, this one (Moshiach) comes’.”

If these words were not sufficiently awe-inspiring and shocking, the Rebbe adds in the footnote that the “prophecy of ‘immediately to tshuva, immediately to Geulah’ is not only as a sage and judge but rather as a prophet, for this is with absolute certainty–see the short discourses of the Alter Rebbe, page 355-6.” In that short discourse, the Alter Rebbe explains that the things which a sage can grasp are very lofty, but they are so lofty in the spiritual realms that it is not certain if (or when) they will descend and take shape in our physical world. On the other hand, the vision of a prophet is of things that are already in this physical world and therefore the words of a prophet are certain, because he sees that they are already here.

Thus, we see: the Rebbe (as a continuation of the Previous Rebbe, and all the previous Rebbeim back to the Baal Shem Tov) is a prophet; his statements about us being in the final moments of golus, on the cusp of the Geulah, are a prophecy–meaning that they have already taken shape in this physical world and not only will take place but are already here and unfolding. And we are directed to publicize this to all the people of the generation.

Chabadinfo.com Exclusive: In the Sicha of Parshas Re’eh 5751, the Rebbe speaks how we have to publicize to everyone that Moshiach is coming now. ● Learn this week’s Sicha with ChabadInfo.com’s Weekly Shiur of the “Dvar Malchus” Sicha in English, presented by Rabbi Menachem Mendel Lipskier, Mashpia of Mesivta of Melbourne, Australia ● Watch Video

The name “Elul” famously stands for “Ani L‘dodi V‘dodi Li”, “I am for my Beloved, and my Beloved is for me”. The first part of this verse, “I am for my Beloved”, refers to the avodah from below to Above, the second part (“and my Beloved is for me”) reflects the awakening from Above which follows. In other words, in Elul we serve Hashem from our own power (taking a spiritual accounting, repenting for what is lacking, and making spiritual improvements) and this generates the Awakening from Above which are the lofty revelations of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

The Shelah writes that there is a connection between every parsha and the days when it comes out, meaning in our case a connection between parshas Re’eh and the month of Elul. But whereas the emphasis in Elul is the avodah from below to Above, the very first verse of our parsha is the opposite: “See I am giving you today blessing”, from Above to below. These are completely opposite?! The Rebbe explains this seeming contradiction by first pointing out that although Elul is a month of avodah from below, but the initial letters of Elul include both aspects–below to Above (“I am for my Beloved”) and Above to below (“my Beloved is for me”). More than that, the avodah of Elul itself includes both. It is explained in Chassidus that in the month of Elul “the King is in the field”, meaning that there is a lofty–but hidden–revelation from Above which gives the potential to each and every Jew to bring himself, through his own effort from below, to be suitable to enter the King’s royal chambers on Rosh Hashanah. Thus, the avodah of Elul is inclusive of both inyonim.

The Rebbe notes that:

The avodah of the person from below to Above (“I am for my Beloved”) is (not on a lower level, as implied by it coming from “below”, which is limited by the limitations and state of the person, but rather it is actually) a higher level (“Above”) which is above all limitation. This is because as regards the true inner state of the Jew, the neshoma of the Jew, which is “truly a piece of G-dliness Above”, the level of Yechida, is in fact in a perfect state of unity with the Holy One, blessed be He.

All he needs to do is to reveal his true reality, that he is one with the Holy One, blessed be He. This is accomplished by serving Hashem in a way which transcends limitation, avodah which comes from the essence of his existence, which is that he is one with the Holy One, blessed be He. And because this is the essence of the existence of every Jew, it is relevant even at the beginning of his avodah.

Having said all that, the Rebbe proceeds to give “standing orders”:

It is incumbent to publicize and awaken in every place the avodah of Elul and, with particular emphasis, the inyan of Geulah, which in fact permeates all of this avodah. All must be permeated and done with the spirit of the Geulah (including, and especially, through learning Torah on the subjects of Geulah and the Beis haMikdash), amidst anticipation and complete certainty that immediately we are seeing with fleshly eyes that “Behold, this one (Melech Hamoshiach) comes”.

Simply put: to proclaim and to publicize in every place — with words that come from the heart — that the Holy One, blessed be He says (through his servants the Prophets) to every single Jew “See, I am giving before you today blessing”, until that literally today mamash we see with fleshly eyes the blessing of the true and complete Geulah.

[And we should add and emphasize that this declaring and publicizing of the above must be also via those who claim that they still didn’t completely “get it”, meaning completely grasping and understanding in a conscious manner. Since they also are complete in their belief, they are able (and thus, they must) publicize these things to others, beginning with their families (for surely they need not “suffer” from the fact that this matter is still not sitting well with him intellectually), and also all those who are found around him, every single Jew, and certainly through the proper effort the words will be accepted and will bring about the desired effect, including also in the one who is proclaiming and publicizing, that by him it will be internalized properly, etc.].

I have to proclaim and publicize even if I’m not completely with it? Yes, even one who is not completely with it.

Perhaps if all of us took these words of the Rebbe seriously and acted on them properly, we would already see it with fleshly eyes. It’s still not too late–“Today, if you will heed his voice“.

The Rebbe mentions numerous times in these talks that everything that is necessary for the Geulah is already here, we simply need to add the letter “alef” to the word gola (which means exile), thereby transforming it to Geulah. But what exactly does it mean to add an “alef” to the exile that we are in?

There are many levels to answering this question, the most basic of which is that it means revealing Hashem (the ruler of the world, “alufo shel olam“) in the world through Torah and Mitzvos. Additionally, it means recognizing Hashem’s Divine Providence that is behind everything, even those things which appear to us as the opposite of good.

We find an even deeper and more comprehensive explanation in the Chassidic Discourse that was edited by the Rebbe and published in 1991 in honor of the Hillula (anniversary of the passing) of the Rebbe’s father, Levi Yitzchak Schneersohn.

The discourse discusses the source for the statement of our sages that a Jew must make 100 blessings every day. The sages find scriptural support for this in a verse from parshas Ekev: “Now, Yisroel, what (“mah”) does Hashem your G-d want from you” (Devarim 10:12). The sages say “don’t read mah (“what”) rather me’ah (“one hundred’)”. This familiar technique of the sages doesn’t change the original meaning, of course, but adds another level. In this case, they are adding the letter “alef” to the “mah” (which means “what”) and the result is the one hundred blessings (“me’ah”) that a Jew must say.

In chapter 3 of the discourse, the Rebbe explains the deeper significance of inserting an “alef”, which is surely applicable as well to the Rebbe’s instruction to add an “alef” to exile to transform gola into Geulah. To briefly summarize the Rebbe’s words:

“Mah“ symbolizes Malchus, which is the level where G-dly revelation can be internalized (in Chassidic terminology, the level of memalehkol almin and the soul levels of Nefesh, Ruach, Neshoma). In the avodah of a Yid, this is the avodah of “you shall love Hashem your G-d with all of your heart” (b’chol levovecha) which derives from the external dimension of the soul’s intellect (chitzoniyus ha’seichel). As implied by the term “all of your heart” it generates a feeling of love in the emotional attributes of the heart’s emotional attributes, but only there.

“Me’ah” is the level of Arich, a level that transcends us and can only be revealed in a transcendent, encompassing manner (sovev kol almin and the transcendent soul level of Chaya). In our avodah this is the love “with all of your soul” (b’chol nafshecha) which derives from the internal dimension of the soul’s intellect (pnimiyus ha’seichel). This love is felt in the intellect, and then automatically spreads out to affect all the soul’s powers and limbs.

How do we go from one level to the next, from “with all of your heart” (limited to the heart) to “with all of your soul” (which spreads to all the powers of the soul)? It is through the avoda of “all of your might” (b’chol me’odecha), which reaches the “alef“, the supernal level of Atik which completely transcends the world (higher than both memaleh kol almin and sovev kol almin, the soul level of Yechida). In avodah this is mesirus nefesh, to give one’s soul (either literally, or, in the way applicable in our generation: giving away one’s personal desires, mesirus haratzon, in order to fulfill the will of Hashem). Because it transcends the other two levels, it is able to unite them and to draw down (the meaning of brocha, a blessing) the level of “me’ah” into the level of “mah“, that they should both be revealed in the person.

Clearly, this is understandable as regards the “alef” which we must insert into gola in order to make Geulah: to awaken the level of Yechida, through serving Hashem “with all of your might”, having true mesirus nefesh to fulfill Hashem’s will, especially as it is revealed through “your servants, the prophets” and most especially the Novi of our generation. This puts in the Alef and results in Geulah! Let’s not be lazy about this, because we have to bring Moshiach now!